First Families of Orangeburgh District, South Carolina

1. CONRAD HOLMAN was born at an unknown date and place, but most likely in Germany and probably bef. 1725 [See Note i]. He died between 5 Nov 1771 and 19 Mar 1772 in St. Matthews Parish, Amelia Township, Orangeburgh District, South Carolina [1]. He married first (1) UNKNOWN, in Germany. He married second (2) MARY ANN UNKNOWN [See Note ii] before they arrived in the colony of South Carolina. She died in St. Matthews Parish, Amelia Township, Orangeburgh District, South Carolina.

No information is available on Conrad's first wife except that she and CONRAD HOLMAN had a daughter who remained in Germany as indicated in his Will which states in part, "... (Secondly) I give and bequeath to my daughter from my first wife which is left in Germany, one hundred pounds South Carolina currency ... ... & & I desire my executors to notify this in a letter to my daughter in Germany..." [1]

Conrad and second wife Mary Ann arrived in Charles Town, South Carolina during the second week of January 1749/50 on Captain Edward Randolph's ship GREENWICH [2]. The voyage took them from Rotterdam to London, a customs/immigration intermediate stop, and then on to Charles Town. Other passengers [See Note iii] on board the GREENWICH with them were "PALATINE SERVANTS, who are to be disposed of ..." [2]

Within two weeks of arrival in Charles Town, Conrad Holman on 26 Jan 1749/50, petitioned the SC Colonial Council for 100 acres of bounty free land in Orangeburgh Township and states as follows: "The Humble Petition of Conrad Halman was read setting forth That your Pet'r is just come in the Ship Greenwich, Capt. Randolph, on the Encouragement given to foreign Protestants, has a wife, and is desirous of settling in Orangeburgh Township, prays to run out to him 100 acres of Land and that he may have the Provision Bounty. The prayer thereof was granted and Bounty." [3]

The following day, on 27 Jan 1749/50 the Surveyor General directed the deputy surveyor to lay out 100 acres of land for Conrad Holman in Amelia Township, Berkley County, SC [5]. It was certified by the deputy surveyor on 12 Mar 1750 [5] and a land grant was issued on 6 Nov 1751 [6] [See Note v]. On 10 Apr 1771 Conrad Holman was issued another land grant for 550 acres in Amelia Township [7] not far from his first land grant.

Conrad Holman participated in the Colonial Indian Wars of 1759-60, by supplying corn, straw, forage, two steers and "hire of a cart and horses." He also entertained the governor [8]. Conrad's and Mary Ann's names [See Note iv] are found in Rev. John Giessendanner's Book of Record, Orangeburgh, SC, twenty times, all related to baptisms as sureties/susceptors or as parents [10, 11]. The first was 10 Jun 1750 and the last was 11 Mar 1759. Only two of their children are mentioned in the Book of Record.

c. MARY ANN HOLMAN, born 14 May 1753, St. Matthew's Parish, Amelia Township, Orangeburgh District, SC [9]. Her birth date is so indicated in Entry 163 of Book of Record, dated 17 Jun 1753 [10, 11]. Her death date is unknown. She married James Kennerly, son of Thomas Kennerly [9].

d. JOSEPH HOLMAN, born 8 Sep 1757, St. Matthew's Parish, Amelia Township, Orangeburgh District, SC [9]. His birth date is so indicated in Entry 429 of Book of Record, dated Sunday 9 Oct 1757 [10, 11]. His death date is unknown. He married Margaret UNKNOWN, born abt. 1762 and died 26 Sep 1800 [9].

e. JOHN HOLMAN, SR., born 29 Oct 1759, St. Matthew's Parish, Amelia Township, Orangeburgh District, SC and he died 3 Apr 1821 on his plantation near Holman's Bridge on the south side of the South Edisto River, Barnwell District, SC [9]. He married (1) Rachel UNKNOWN, born unknown and died bet. 1792-1795, and then married (2) Magdalen M. UNKNOWN abt. 1795, born unknown and died abt. 1842 near Holman's Bridge [9].

i. Conrad and Mary Ann Holman's birth dates and places are unknown, but dates and places can be found on several internet sites (Ancestry.com & FamilySearch.org) but no sources are cited. By tradition they are believed to be from Germany, were German speaking people and were either of the Lutheran or Reformed faith.

ii. Mary Ann Holman's maiden name has not been definitively determined in historical records, but some early researchers speculate that her maiden name may have been Brown/Braun [9] or even Zeigler.

iv. The variant spellings of Holman in early 18th century SC historical documents are Halman, Holman, Hollman and Hallman with Holman and Halman being the most prevalent when associated with Conrad Holman and his descendants.

v. Conrad Holman's original land grant of 100 acres remains to this day (2010) owned by a direct line Holman descendant and is still operated as a farm. Conrad and Mary Ann Holman are believed to be buried on this land in the Old Holman Cemetery.

vi. In October 2009, comparison of y-DNA tests of a descendant of Conrad Holman and a descendant of Andrew Hallman and John Wendell Hallman of the Dutch Fork area proved that these two families are not related. Kinship of these two families had been suggested by Dr. Elmer B. Hallman [12] and Lee R. Gandee [13] in their research works during the 1960s and 1970s.

REFERENCES:

1. Charleston Wills, Conrad Holman, Recorded in original Will Book (1771-1774), page 132, Charleston, SC.

6. SCDAH, Colonial Plats (Conrad Holman), Series S213019, Volume 42, Page 373, Item 000. Date of online reference is incorrect and should be 6 Nov 1751 according to the original document found in Royal Grants Vol. 42, p. 373, SCDAH.